The Senate Budget Committee Republican staff under Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) on Thursday released a chart that should have you worried:

“The numbers reflect the change in the total number of people employed and the total number of people on the two largest federal welfare programs, as well as Social Security Disability Insurance, between 2008 and 2012,” the senator’s report explains.

The Beyond the Border deal announced in December 2011 represents the most significant step forward in U.S.-Canada cooperation since NAFTA. Dual action plans are further transforming trade, regulatory and security relations between both countries. Over the next few years, various cross-border initiatives will be rolled out, with some beginning as pilot programs. The U.S. and Canada have laid the framework for a new border regime which is taking their partnership to the next level and pushing the continent closer to a fully integrated North America security perimeter.

Today's congressional hearing on the Sep. 11, 2012 attacks across the Middle East, that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans in Benghazi, have destroyed the Obama administration's lies about the event. There was not enough security in Benghazi, despite repeated requests; there was no preparation for the attacks, despite intelligence and warning signs; and the assault in Libya had nothing to do with an anti-Islamic video, as President Barack Obama and his appointees had claimed for weeks.

On the eve of the hearings, the State Department claimed not to have linked the Libya attack to an anti-Islamic video made in the United States--although Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did so in television advertisements the State Department produced for Pakistani television, and UN Ambassador Susan Rice told the media over and over again that the attacks had been part of a spontaneous demonstration of outrage across the region. Numerous requests for additional security in Benghazi had been ignored by the diplomats at Foggy Bottom.

Republican leaders of aHouse committeecriticized theFederal Communications Commissionon Tuesday for sending about $1 million in stimulus funds to a London company to collect data on broadband speeds of various U.S. Internet providers.

Rep. Fred Upton, Michigan Republican and chairman of theHouse Committee on Energy and Commerce, and three other top Republican lawmakers on the panel called the contract emblematic of broader problems with the stimulus program, according to a letter they sent to FCCChairmanJulius GenachowskiandLawrence Strickling, an assistant secretary at theCommerce Department.

How do you transport a 234-pound baby to New York City? If he’s a 15-week-old walrus rescued from the open ocean off Alaska, the answer is a jumbo-size crate aboard a FedEx cargo jet, accompanied by a veterinarian and a handler.

“If he’s calm and comfortable, no worries,” said Jon Forrest Dohlin, director of the New York Aquarium, which will receive the walrus calf, named Mitik, on Thursday. “But his needs and comfort come first. So he may very well travel with his head in our keeper’s lap.”

Mitik will arrive at an important moment for the Brooklyn aquarium. Situated just off the Coney Island Boardwalk, the aquarium, part of the Wildlife Conservation Society, is one of only several institutions in the United States that exhibit walruses. One of its two walruses, Nuka, is 30, an old-timer by walrus standards.

The artist going by “Dito Von Tease” is described as “elusive.” People may not know his face but they sure can recognize his finger. Well, maybe not his finger specifically, but at least the famous figures he Photoshops his finger into modeling.More

In what is considered to be one of the most gerrymandered congressional districts in the nation, Democrat incumbent U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes squared off with Republican Eric Knowles and Libertarian Paul Drgos in the 3rd Congressional District debate hosted by the Greater Olney Civic Association and the Olney Chamber of Commerce Tuesday night.

The citizens of Olney have been taken out of the 4th district represented by U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards. They are are now in a spread-out district that spans to Towson, Annapolis and parts of Baltimore. Meanwhile Rockville and Laytonsville, towns that border Olney to the south and west, are in the 8th Congressional District.

During the next presidential debate, the candidates will be pondering the important questions of our time. But the most controversial may be "Sausage or pepperoni?"

Pizza Hut is offering a lifetime of free pizza _ one large pie a week for 30 years _ or a check for $15,600 to anyone who poses the question to either President Barack Obama or Republican candidate Mitt Romney during the live Town Hall-style debate next Tuesday.

Ihave cautionedRepublicans that we shouldn't get too excited about Thursday's VP debate. Yes, Paul Ryan has forgotten more about the federal budget than Joe Biden ever knew. But, sometimes, having too much knowledge can trip you up in a debate. More troubling, Biden has a habit of just making stuff up on the fly. Its hard to debate crazy. That said, the real pressure is on the Vice President. If he whiffs this debate, Democrats will start running away from the Obama ticket.

If I had to make a bet, I would wager that Paul Ryan will do very well in the VP debate. As I have noted, though, I don't think its the slam-dunk many people think and, given Biden's tendencies to just make shit up, there is no telling how the debate will go. I fully expect, at some point in the debate, Ryan will be forced to give a WTF look at the moderator because of something "Grandpa Joe" says.

While a surprise write-in candidate for mayor shook up what was expected to be a quiet election in Berlin this week, the last-minute effort was not successful enough to change the composition of the council.

After voters hit the polls Tuesday, Mayor Gee Williams, District II Councilmember Lisa Hall and District III Councilmember Elroy Brittingham emerged victorious in their re-election bids. Of the three, Hall was the only one to have an official opponent on the ballot, Ronald Marney, who achieved 68 votes to her 169. Brittingham ran completely unopposed.

The big surprise of the day came in the mayor’s race, however, with write-in candidate Ellen Lang managing to secure 122 votes. Williams earned 335 votes, but still expressed deep irritation at the manner in which Lang came out of nowhere to almost perform an election upset. According to Williams, it wasn’t an underdog story but an unethical attempt by a special interest in the town to purposefully setup an uncontested election and then take advantage of low voter turnout to throw a coup for mayor.

A new undercover video from conservative activist James O‘Keefe’s Project Veritas purports to show a staffer for the grassroots Obama effort Organizing for America helping facilitate voter fraud.

In the video, an O’Keefe operative tells a woman identified as Stephanie Caballero, regional field director at OFA Houston, that she has a Florida voter registration card and intends to vote both there and in Texas. While Caballero doesn’t explicitly encourage her to vote twice, she doesn’t discourage her from doing so during their laughter-filled conversations.

Dick Cheney's former company, Halliburton, is in the news again for nearly causing an environmental disaster.Last month, Halliburton admitted that it lost a rod of radioactive material somewhere in Texas. The type of radiation – known as americium-241/beryllium – is considered a category 3 radioactive substance and can be fatal if encountered for a prolonged period of time. After Halliburton announced the rod was missing – the Texas National Guard was called up to find it. But no luck...until this week – when an oilfield worker noticed the radioactive rod alongside a highway near Pecos, Texas. So now Halliburton can breathe a little easier and get back to its day job: pouring faulty cement in undersea oil wells and carving up Iraqi oil fields.

The International Monetary Fund cut its growth forecasts for the world economy – and warned that there is a "alarmingly high" risk of deep economic slowdown. IMF projections now show the global economy growing by a mere 3.3% this year – the slowest growth since 2009. As the IMF says in its report: "Confidence in the global financial system remains exceptionally fragile...Bank lending has remained sluggish across advanced economies." With Europe's economy contracting, the United States headed for a "fiscal cliff," and emerging economies like India and China also slowing down – IMF leaders are calling on policy makers to address the threats in their economies. All around the world – we are witnessing the collapse of corporate globalism. The only question left is: just how messy will it get before working people around the world come together to forge a new economy for the 21st century.

At least 8,000 registered voters got cards recently from the State Board of Elections telling them they were not registered. The cards were apparently part of a mailing to a million people eligible to vote in an effort to encourage greater voter registration.

But after receiving dozens of distressed calls from senior citizens, Howard County Democratic Chairman Michael McPherson said Tuesday that the effort to push online voter registration by the state elections board “smacks of voter suppression.”

Did you notice during last week's Presidential debate – there was no talk about how to fix the ongoing housing crisis in America?That's because both candidates know that the one best solution to the mortgage crisis is to make the banksters take a hit. Ireland knows it, too – but they're willing to take on the banksters anyway. The Irish government is expected to pass a law this year that will force their banks to substantially lower monthly mortgage payments for struggling homeowners to stem the tide of foreclosures. Ireland would be the first nation to force the banks to take a hit to help homeowners since the global housing crisis started. And one of the reasons why Ireland can do this is because instead of giving the banks a blank check bailout – the Irish government took substantial ownership of them as well – basically nationalizing them. So now the government can tell the banks what to do. Since we didn't do the same thing in the United States – the banksters took all their bailout money, paid each other massive bonuses, started gambling in the market again, and left homeowners high and dry. But here's the thing – it's not too late to do what's right. Wall Street's gotten enough favors over the last 4 years – American homeowners need help now.

Eastman Kodak Co. said Wednesday it has asked a bankruptcy court judge to allow it to end retiree medical and some other benefits at the end of the year as part of its restructuring.

The company said it reached an agreement with the court-appointed committee of retirees to pay a total of $650 million in claims and $7.5 million in cash into a fund that could be used for future payments in exchange for eliminating its current $1.2 billion liability for medical, dental, life insurance and survivor income benefits.

Strikers have returned to work with their heads held high and their wallets full at Walmart's largest North American distribution center. Warehouse workers in Elwood, Illinois, announced Saturday that they had won their key demand, reinstatement of all who were fired or suspended for on-the-job organizing, along with full back pay for everyone who participated in the three-week strike.

"I think there's been a hit in Walmart's armor," said Phil Bailey, one of the strikers who marched triumphantly back into the warehouse in matching Warehouse Workers for Justice t-shirts. "There's been this expectation that they can't be damaged at all. Not true!"

The returning workers also saw immediate improvements in safety conditions in the warehouse. They finally received shin guards, which they have been requesting for some time to protect them from heavy carts, and giant ceiling fans were installed to help cool the warehouse, which can reach 120 degrees. "[Management] kept coming around asking us if we needed any additional safety equipment," Bailey reported. "They're a lot more polite."

Jonathan is an amateur musician, but not so amateur that he doesn’t play the occasional gig for pay. He didn’t think that this should matter if anything happened to his instrument, and Allstate didn’t say anything when he took out an additional rider on it as part of his renter’s insurance, with theft protection. When his car was stolen, he recovered the car but not the instrument. In theory, it should have been covered. Jonathan says that they refuse to pay because he does play for compensation on occasion, and the company refuses to budge.

The State Highway Administration (SHA) reminds drivers traveling to and from the Eastern Shore to use US 301 as an alternate route or travel during off-peak hours due to the reconstruction of the westbound US 50 Bridge in Queenstown.

The left lane of the highway has been closed so crews can replace the bridge deck as part of the $2.8 million project.

The SHA said the northbound and southbound lanes on US 301 will also be closed overnight from time to time as crews demolish parts of the road and install new steel beams on US 50 that runs above it.

At least 8,000 registered voters got cards recently from the State Board of Elections telling them they were not registered. The cards were apparently part of a mailing to a million people eligible to vote in an effort to encourage greater voter registration.

The State Department's description of last month's attack on a consulate in Libya is now in sync with Republican claims. State now said the attack was purely the product of a terrorist plan, and not the result of an out- of-control Muslim protest. An unnamed State Department source told the Associated Press that officials never concluded it was caused by the protest in the first place. That was just the initial explanation pending investigation. The message came on the eve of a hearing on the attack before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has accused the State Department of refusing to grant requests from its contingent in Libya for more security. Four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador, were killed in the attack.

NEW YORK — The day before the vice presidential debate the guest list for moderator Martha Raddatz’s 1991 wedding has become an issue, of sorts.

The list included Harvard Law School student and future president Barack Obama. The groom was Julius Genachowski, the current Federal Communications Commission chairman. And The Daily Caller website wanted to know if the connections 21 years ago raise the question of bias going into Thursday’s debate.

Raddatz’s employer, ABC News, called the issue “silly” and sought to beat the website to the punch by confirming that Obama attended the wedding 21 years ago. The couple divorced in 1997.

Raddatz, ABC’s senior foreign affairs correspondent, was chosen this summer by the Commission on Presidential Debates to moderate the debate between Democratic Vice President Joe Biden and Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan. She has been with ABC News for more than 13 years and wrote “The Long Road Home — A Story of War and Family.”

Government auditors said the Environmental Protection Agency was struggling to regulate one of the most promising sources of new energy. The Government Accountability Office said EPA regulators have "one hand tied behind their backs" when it comes to monitoring shale oil and gas production. Reuters reported they lack key data on the environmental and public-health risks. Advances in shale exploration have allowed energy companies to tap into domestic sources. But it has also raised fears about pollution and environmental damage in local communities.

(Reuters) - Republican challenger Mitt Romney has extended his lead over President Barack Obama to 3 percentage points, according to a Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll released on Thursday, ahead of a high-stakes debate between the two candidates' running mates.

Romney now leads the Democrat by 47 percent to 44 percent among likely voters in the online poll, with less than a month before the November 6 election. The Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll released on Wednesday had shown Romney with a one-point lead over Obama, his first lead in the survey in more than a month.

Romney has been enjoying one of his best runs of the campaign after handily winning the first presidential debate last week, partially due to Obama's passive performance in that contest.

At their meeting on Thursday, October 4, 2012, the Central City District Commission (CCDC) voted to recommend that the City Council approve a proposal from the Mayor to provide parking permit discounts for downtown businesses purchasing multiple permits. The Mayor’s proposed parking incentive plan for downtown businesses is tiered based on the cost of the permits, as detailed below:

Parking Permit Discount Schedule

Lot Fees

Discount

Lots over $30.00

$5.00

Lots over $20.00

$4.00

Lots over $10.00

$3.00

Lots under $10.00

$2.00

Based on the proposal, downtown businesses will pay the normal rate for the first permit and then enjoy a tiered discount on each additional permit purchased, as outlined in the above discount schedule. This will be a savings to local business of $39,300.00 based on the number of permits purchased for downtown parking. There are 75 businesses that are currently purchasing permits that stand to receive this discount.

Catrice Parsons, Director of Procurement and Parking and a member of the CCDC board said, “Approving the proposed Parking Permit Discount Schedule should improve relationships with the Parking Authority and downtown businesses. Also approving this proposed initiative should increase the number of permits sold.”

"I look forward to the City Council helping us be more responsive to the needs of businesses that are investing in our downtown, and I am appreciative the Central City District Commission supported the plan as it goes to worksession. Salisbury continues to work hard on downtown revitalization, and this is one of the small steps we can take to encourage continued investment,” Mayor James Ireton, Jr. said.

Publishers Notes: Look, it's a start. As many of you know, I've been very vocal about this issue for years but I amped it up recently by asking the Mayor and Council, WHAT DO I GET FOR MY $8,000.00 A YEAR IN TAXES DOWNTOWN? The answer, NOTHING, absolutely nothing. In fact, I NEVER received a response from the Mayor's Office when I asked this question publicly on PAC 14. Protocol for asking such a question gets a reply letter from the Mayor's Office with answers. For us property owners Downtown we get NO parking, NO trash pickup. Why would any one want to purchase a property Downtown if the City gives you no incentive?

The saddest part of ALL of this is, IF this wasn't an election year, do you really think this Mayor would have done anything about it? When I am elected, I'm going to find at least one parking lot that will be reserved for ALL of these employees. There will be NO CHARGE whatsoever as I want to welcome new businesses as well as show our appreciation towards the ones who have remained in Downtown Salisbury. Even local government have become DEPENDENT on the very people paying the taxes. Much like welfare, section 8 housing, food stamps and so forth. The City has become so dependent they THINK they're going to LOSE $30,000.00 a year in discounted revenue.

Mayor Ireton said, "I look forward to the City Council helping us be more responsive to the needs of businesses that are investing in our downtown" are you kidding me Jim, REALLY? It was the Council that brought the problem up in the first place looking for answers. WHY would you act as if this was your idea and you hope they'll work with you. It was the Council that pushed the issue to start with.

A good leader would NOT have gone to the Press first about an issue like this. The FIRST thing a good leader would do is consult the Council first and then move forward as a team. Jim Ireton is all about issues and topics for Jim.

As your next Mayor, you'll never see Press Releases like this again. Salisbury needs a Mayor that RESPECTS the very people that provide income to the City, not punish them with fees like this. Shame on Mayor Ireton for disrespecting the Council like this.

A conservative radio host based in central Virginia, has posted a video on his website of a GOP office with its window smashed in, expletive-laced rants presumably delivered at Republicans, and Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan signs torn down, defaced and smeared with what appears to be human excrement.

For much of the interview, he was highly critical of President Obama and his policies. This is not a new position. Wynn has gone after Obama in his company's earnings conference calls.

What was new was his aggressive criticism of the Federal Reserve's current easy monetary policy, comparing quantitative easing to a Ponzi scheme:

"The demand for American bonds wasn't as great as what it used to be. So what we did is what Bernie Madoff went to jail for: the Federal Reserve printed the money and bought the bonds from the government as if it was really an auction and there was really a buyer."

Wynn takes issue with this because he's being forced to watch "the paychecks of [his] employees go down the drain in real time."

He's worn band on wedding-ring finger since before he met Michelle

NEW YORK – As a student at Harvard Law School, then-bachelor Barack Obama’s practice of wearing a gold band on his wedding-ring finger puzzled his colleagues.

Now, newly published photographs of Obama from the 1980s show that the ring Obama wore on his wedding-ring finger as an unmarried student is the same ring Michelle Robinson put on his finger at the couple’s wedding ceremony in 1992.

Moreover, according to Arabic-language and Islamic experts, the ring Obama has been wearing for more than 30 years is adorned with the first part of the Islamic declaration of faith, the Shahada: “There is no god except Allah.”

They're calling on VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to fire his chief of staff. John Gingrich signed off on the budget for two training conferences last year that cost VA $6 million. The VA inspector general found about $800,000 of that was wasted. That included promotional items and a video mimicking a movie about Gen.George Patton. Gingrich has accepted responsibility for the conference and admits he should have looked more closely at the details. Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said firing Gingrich would send the right message.

A new report shows just how much the government has to do to fight health-care fraud. TheGovernment Accountability Office said the government investigated more than 10,000 providers in the Medicare, Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Programs in 2010. That reflected a rise in cases against pharmacies and home health agencies in particular. Nearly half of the criminal cases targeted medical facilities and equipment suppliers. But the Health and Human Services inspector general asked the Justice Department to pursue charges just one-sixth of the time. GAO has sent the report to Senate Democrats. Auditors have kept Medicare and Medicaid on its high-risk list because, it said, their size and complexity make them vulnerable to fraud.

The media insists on characterizing statements about dependency on government handouts as controversial, but in truth such statements are absolutely correct. It’s not that nearly half of Americans are dependent on government; it’s actually more than half. If one includes not just people on food stamps and welfare, but also seniors on Medicare, Social Security and people employed by the government directly, the number is more like 165 million out of 308 million, which is 53%.

Some argue that Social Security and Medicare benefits are a right because people pay into these programs their whole lives, or that we need a government safety net in place for people who fall on hard times. However, this all becomes a moot point when the funds people depend on become worthless due to government default or rampant inflation.

The Fed recently announced that it plans to keep interest rates near zero and keep buying near worthless assets from banks indefinitely. This enables Congress to spend without having to take deficits or the debt seriously and there is every indication they intend to spend with impunity until the system collapses. There are no brakes on the runaway train. The federal debt ceiling law does nothing to limit spending. The ceiling will have to be raised yet again perhaps before the year is out. What is happening in Greece with austerity measures and riots in the street will happen here within a decade according to some realistic estimates if we do not find some way to fiscally restrain our government.

(Salisbury, Maryland) - If you are interested in losing weight, preventing diabetes and cardiovascular disease, or just want to work toward better health, sign up for the Lifestyle Balance Program starting November 6. The Wicomico County Health Department and the Mid-Shore Family YMCA are partnering to offer this 16 week program on Tuesday evenings at 5:15pm at the Y in Salisbury.

Certified Lifestyle Coaches will lead weekly educational sessions on healthy eating and physical activity, monitor participants’ weight loss, and provide individual support and coaching. Cost is $24 for Y members and $48 for non-members and includes program notebook, tracking journals, incentives, and use of the Y gym, pool and exercise classes.

“We are pleased to partner with the Y and offer the Lifestyle Balance Program to help our county residents lead healthier lives. I encourage those adults struggling with weight loss or at risk of developing type 2 diabetes to sign up,” says Lori Brewster, county Health Officer. “This program gives people the tools to change their behavior with a focus on good nutrition and increased activity. Many people will lose weight, but more importantly, they will reduce their risk of serious disease,” states Melissa Denault, Y Executive Director.

Lifestyle Balance is a Center for Disease Control National Diabetes Prevention Program and partially funded through a grant from the Community Health Resources Commission.

For more information call the health department at 410-334-3480 or register at the Y, 715 S. Schumaker Drive, Salisbury